JonathanandLindsey.com

Balloon Ride

2010-09-01T03:19:22Z

Planner that I am, I have a bucket list, despite the fact that I am still young and in good health (knock on wood). For my 30th birthday, Jonathan's parents helped me cross one thing off my list. They watched to boys for us, and Jonathan and I woke up at 4:00am, tanked up on coffee, and headed to Newberg, OR to catch a hot air balloon at dawn.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous watching them fill up the balloon with hot air. The basket looked awfully small, and the flame looked really big. Before long, it was all set to go, we jumped in, our pilot unhooked us from our anchor (a van) and we gently lifted off the ground. According to him, the winds were "squirrley," but I didn't notice - it seemed like a smooth takeoff to me. The ride was a breeze, so to speak - very peaceful and still. We drifted over the Willamette river (where we attempted a "splash and dash"), just over the tree tops, and on over farms and beautiful houses on large lots. We even saw a couple of horses in a corral get spooked by a curious deer. After our flight there was a champagne toast followed by a delicious homemade brunch. This was definitely an experience I will remember. Thanks Jenny and Bill!

Mr. Smiley

2010-08-30T04:59:25Z

Kieron is about 3 1/2 months old now and he changes a little bit everyday. He's quite talkative and enjoys having conversations by ooohing, aaaahing, and squealing. He grabs onto objects and can switch them from one hand to the other. His legs are very strong and he prefers to be vertical, so last week we put him in the Jumparoo, and now it's his new favorite thing. What we enjoy most about this age is Kieron's smile. He's a really happy little guy and it seems like most of his waking hours he's smiling at us.

Back to the Beach

2010-08-19T19:43:19Z

We spent a few days in the beginning of August at Nana and Grandpa's place on the Oregon coast. Avery was so excited to go, he packed his backpack in the morning all by himself. Of course, all he packed was toys, but Mommy helped him sort it all out. When we got there Avery could hardly contain himself while we unpacked the van. The wait must have seemed like an eternity to him, but it wasn't long before our feet hit the sand and he was busy building castles and fishing with a small net.

Avery loves to play in this creek that leads to the ocean

Avery had fun demolishing this sand kingdom

Then he started to rebuild his own

Waiting for pizza with Grandpa

Haystack Rock

Avery climbed about halfway up this sand dune and ran down with us

Hugging Nana

Mr. Smiley

Hunting for treasures

On our last evening at the beach, Nana and Grandpa watched Kieron so we could have some time outside with just Avery. The clouds cleared and the sky was so pretty. We ended up taking a ton of pictures. This is the least I could reduce it to:

In front of Proposal Rock

Saying "hello" to the starfish

Waiting for a wave...

Retreat!

Adventures Blueberry Picking

2010-08-16T04:10:43Z

At the end of July we returned to Bybee Farms in North Bend for a second season of blueberry picking. The farm is beautiful, tucked right at the base of Mount Si. Avery was excited to go, and we thought that with another year under his belt, he would make a fine blueberry picker. But after picking and eating about 20 blueberries, he declared that he was tired and wanted trail mix. So he spent the majority of the time camped in a fold-up canvas chair while Mommy and Daddy got the goods. We had a great time anyway, and still have ten pounds of blueberries in the freezer.

Kieron did his part to help us gather lots of berries. He slept in the stroller the entire time. We didn't get any pictures of him that afternoon, but here are a few from earlier in the day.

Soccer

2010-08-14T07:04:57Z

There's a high school within walking distance of our house. When we can, we like to walk over there with the boys and run around the track and/or kick a ball around on the field. Here are a few shots of Daddy playing defender against Avery.

Backyard Fun

2010-08-13T06:49:18Z

We've had a mild summer this year, but it hasn't stopped us from taking advantage of what warm days we've had. We BBQ and eat dinner in the backyard as often as possible, and when it's really hot we break out the kiddie pool or turn on the sprinklers. We even managed to fit in a water balloon fight one day. Here are a few pics of our backyard shenanigans.

Kieron Three Months

2010-08-11T03:53:23Z

It's hard to believe Kieron is already three-months-old. The bleary-eyed nights of waking every several hours to feed, burp, and change him are behind us. He now puts in a good eight-ten hour stretch at night regularly. His waking hours have increased too, and he's quite a cheerful little guy, full of laughs, squeaks, and coos. He enjoys playing with his hands and grasping rattles or small stuffed animals.

Kieron is not a fan of tummy time yet, but he's getting stronger, so it probably won't be long before he enjoys spending quite a bit of time there. He really loves being held and cuddled though, and would likely prefer to spend all of his time in someone's arms.

He got three shots at his two-month well baby visit

Dr. Avery looking after his little bro

All smiles

Texas for the 4th

2010-07-15T03:28:34Z

We spent a week in Texas with Lindsey's family over the Fourth of July. Uncle Scott was in from Afghanistan at the same time, so we were very happy to have everyone together. The holiday was spent playing in the pool, drinking margaritas, and eating BBQ ribs.

We were particularly impressed with Avery's increased confidence in the pool over the course of the week. Although he's taken swimming lessons and been in and around pools often, Avery has always been very cautious in the water. But by the end of this trip, he was swimming underwater between Mommy and Daddy. Each time he came up, he took a breath, said "again," and dove back under water. The pool really wore him out and he took some good naps while in Texas.

Around the House

2010-07-06T01:27:03Z

Having two kids doesn't leave much time for blogging. We've been chasing after a certain rambunctious three-year-old while feeding/burping/changing his little brother. How do people with three and four kids do it?

Avery is enjoying the good weather. He loves to play in the backyard and has been going on lots of bike rides with Daddy. He also keeps busy inside when it's raining, and shows an interest in painting and ballet (much to Mommy's delight).

Kieron is two months old now. He still sleeps a lot and enjoys eating. He's a sturdy little baby. He's started to smile at us and loves having 'conversations' by cooing back and forth. He's very active and likes to keep his arms free and kick his legs a lot.

Avery loves tee-ball, and has a pretty solid swing

Sometimes he's a little lazy though

What should I paint?

Do you like my tutu?

It's red, like a fire engine

Avery wanted to recreate the movie "Up" here

Riding bikes with Daddy.

Conked out

Replicating an old picture of Avery

The view from Kieron's crib

A picture of our baby in front of a picture of our baby

Vancouver Trip

2010-06-28T21:56:04Z

We spent the weekend in Vancouver with Nana and Grandpa. On Saturday they babysat the boys and we went on our first postpartum date for Lindsey's birthday. The weather was beautiful and sunny, so we enjoyed cocktails outside in downtown Portland before dining on sushi.

Avery is now big enough to go on the swing hanging from a tree in Nana and Grandpa's front yard. He loves going high, and swings clear across the yard.

Grandpa took a few pics of us before our big date

Avery on the swing

Fireman Avery

2010-06-22T02:59:32Z

This weekend our local fire department held an open house to help teach kids about fire safety. Avery spends a good portion of each day dressed in his fire gear putting out imaginary fires throughout our house and rescuing pretend kittens from dire straits. So when I heard about this event, I could hardly wait to take Avery. He got to see the inside of the fire house, sit in a fire truck, and get inside a helicopter which landed in the parking lot. There was even an obstacle course set up for the kids. It was so fun to see him in his element and absorbing everything. Afterwards I asked him what his favorite part was, and he said it was sitting in the fire truck.

"Look! A pumper truck!"

Sitting in the truck with Daddy

In his fireman suit

Starting the obstacle course

Avery crawled through a tunnel...

...to drag this poor dummy from harm's way

Then he put out the fire and saved the day

"Gimme five!"

Maple Valley Days

2010-06-15T02:39:28Z

Auntie Ashleigh made a special trip out from New York for the weekend to meet her new nephew. Nana and Grandpa drove up from Vancouver too. It turned out to be a great weekend for a visit. Our local summer festival, Maple Valley Days, was going on, and we had beautiful weather to boot. Avery is at an age where he really enjoys the rides and games at the fair. I don't know if he had more fun going on the rides or if we had more fun watching him on them.

Big Brother Avery

2010-06-07T01:33:50Z

Avery continues to grow into an adorable little boy. When Lindsey and I came home from the hospital with Kieron we both noticed that Avery seemed a little more grown up. And in the past few weeks it's become even more apparent. He's grown physically, becoming very sturdy and tall. He is getting good at kicking a soccer ball and hitting a baseball off a plastic tee-ball set. He's also expanding his vocabulary and conversation skills and is great fun to talk with. There is something very endearing about a three-year-olds' way with words.

Hiking Tiger Mountain

Posing with "The Alligator" log

Kieron: first three weeks

2010-05-30T03:19:19Z

Kieron is just over three weeks old and we're settling into a routine with two children. So far he's quite the sleepy-head, has a great appetite, and loves to cuddle and be held. After a night home from the hospital we realized Kieron needed a pacifier (Avery spit them out), and since then life has been a little better. In the night we're getting three and sometimes four hour stretches between feedings. This week Kieron started smiling a little bit. We'll try to get some pictures to post soon.

We're so proud of Avery and the way he's responded to Kieron. He's a proud big brother and is never short on hugs and kisses for his little bro. He asks questions like "is Kieron hungry," "does Kieron like giraffes," and "can Kieron play trains with me?" It's pretty cute.

We've managed to get out quite a bit with the boys. We've been to Zeeks Pizza once, and Chantanee for Thai food twice. We also took them to the top of the Space Needle, made a road trip to Mt. Vernon for a birthday party, and went shopping at the Nordstrom half-yearly sale.

P.S. We posted a bunch of earlier blog posts starting with Avery's birthday. Scroll down to see them.

He's very strong, almost looks like he's ready to crawl ;)

Hey good lookin'

Kieron Scott King

2010-05-10T02:41:01Z

Lindsey had a c-section scheduled for Friday, May 7th, but at 6:00 a.m. on Cinco de Mayo, contractions started. We went to our morning o.b. appointment where we were sent on to the hospital. By 12:13 p.m., we were parents to another beautiful boy, Kieron Scott King. He was 8 lbs, 4 oz and 20 in long.

Avery was thrilled to meet his little brother that evening. He burst into the room exclaiming, "hi Kieron, I'm your big brother!" We know the novelty will wear off, but for now it's pretty sweet to watch them together. We've been home from the hospital since Friday and are slowly acclimating to life with a newborn and a preschooler.